Revamped WB Studio Tour’s Stage 48: Script To Screen Opens July 16

The Warner Bros studio tour used to be a sort of well kept but popular secret among locals — a low-key, intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the history and inner-workings of a movie and TV production powerhouse. The newly rechristened Warner Bros Studio Tour Hollywood has grown in popularity and the house that Jack and Harry built is entering a new phase to increase the studio’s modest slice of Southern California’s movie tourism business.

The newest, immersive attraction opens July 16th and is called Stage 48: Script to Screen. Still a far cry from a theme park ride, the $13 million addition will offer visitors a comprehensive look at the movie and TV production process, from script to casting to visual effects, post-production, sound mixing and on to awards season.

Highlights include the Central Perk coffeehouse from Friends and a green-screen setup that let guests fly on Harry Potter’s broomstick. Other enhancements include recorded messages from the stars of 2 Broke Girls, Pretty Little Liars, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. There’s also newly assembled video montages of scenes from productions filmed on the Warner Bros backlot.

The tour takes about two hours, and visitors ride golf carts through sets and soundstages from classic TV shows and movies such as Casablanca, Gilmore Girls and Batman.

6 Comments

HollywoodKid • on Jun 27, 2015 9:26 pm

I hate to see our studios pimped out for tourist dollars. Funny, ‘tourists’ come to California to see how TV & Movies are made — then those shows, and movies, leave California to shoot where it’s cheaper to do it. If ‘Hollywood’ (the studios) truly cared about our legacy of film making and television production then —shoot it here! The WB’s lot, Universal, Disney, Sony, Paramount, Fox, and dozens of other studios are empty and need the love!

It’s a sad day when our California studios are turned into tourist destinations instead of the places where brilliant talent is born….

Very sad.

Justsayin' • on Jun 28, 2015 4:44 am

I went on the former tour and had a wonderful time. I was able to go up and down the backlot streets and walk up to the porches of houses I grew up with in my living room. I got to walk the “Friends” set who were on hiatus and play with the Foosball table and visit Central Perk. It was like a baseball fan getting to throw a pitch in Yankee Stadium.

Cap'n Jack • on Jun 28, 2015 5:06 am

Thus spake an industry insider/local resident.

Truth is, the industry – which is not and had never been exclusively a Californian concept – has sold the idea of “Hollywood” for generations to the wider world. Los Angeles, without the movies connection, is a dishwater dull destination, far outshone by countless other places even on the West Coast, never mind nationally or internationally.

Be grateful for those tourist dollars entering your local economy. They come from movie fans around the world, without whom Hollywood ceases to matter.

FTCS • on Jun 28, 2015 6:57 am

It’s all about the money…no more…no less. Love, legacy and ‘shooting it here’ are just after thoughts. That being said, Hollywood is no different than any other international business.

It is what it is…

BTW – Don’t you think $62 a ticket for the WB Tour is sort of pricey as there are no rides. Guess folks just can’t get enough of the Hollywood ‘totally staged’ experience.

• on Jun 28, 2015 1:57 pm

Anyone else notice the shop at the end only has DC and Harry Potter items? It used to have items from Argo, The Town, Gangster Squad, 300, etc, etc.

mush • on Jun 28, 2015 5:03 pm

I loved the tour when I saw it years ago. As an old movie buff,it was especially appealing to see the streets and sound stages where Bette Davis and James Cagney once reigned.